Fact Check: No casualties reported in Paras Fireworks fire mishap at Abids, Hyderabad
Diwali is associated with lights, sweets, and liveliness. As it is celebrated on the new moon (Amavasya) night, lights
fire accident
Diwali is associated with lights, sweets, and liveliness. As it is celebrated on the new moon (Amavasya) night, lights and fireworks have a significant role to play in this festival. Diwali is a fabulous festival and fireworks play a significant role in increasing its charm, among all age groups. Whether they are kids, youngsters, or older people, everybody enjoys the fireworks like twinkling anars, furious rockets, vibrant sparklers, etc. Hyderabad city police have imposed a ban on the use of fireworks that produce loud noises, particularly during the Deepavali celebrations. Police state that citizens will be allowed to use crackers only between 8 pm to 10 pm on Diwali night.
Ahead of the festival, temporary firework shops have appeared everywhere in the city, where people are buying firecrackers. But a few days before the festival, a massive fire broke out at the fireworks shop in Abids, Hyderabad, on a Sunday night when it was busy shopping time, resulting in many people witnessing the accident. Firefighters promptly arrived with five fire engines to control the fire. Videos of this incident went viral on social media. Amidst all this, an Instagram user shared this viral video with the claim that the fire accident in the firecracker factory took the lives of 35 people in Hyderabad.
The caption in Hindi, when translated goes: “May God bless them with peace, a fire broke out in the firecracker factory”.
Fact check:
The claim is False.
We found several media reports when we searched for the news about the fire accident in Paras fireworks shop. According to the Economic Times, a fire broke out at the Paras Fireworks in Hyderabad’s Sultan Bazaar area on October 27. Fire engines reached the spot and doused the flames from spreading. No casualties have been reported.
According to the Times of India, four fire tenders rushed to the location. However, the situation became challenging as the crackers kept bursting. While the cause of the fire is still unknown, the incident is being investigated. The police confirmed that the shop was being illegally run without a license, a report in India Today stated. “The shop has no certificate. It was an illegal shop. We will take strict action against them,” India Today quoted K Shankar, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sultan Bazar.
According to a report in The New Indian Express, A day after a massive fire was reported at a firecracker store in Abids, Sultan Bazar police registered a case against Paras Fireworks and its owner Guruvinder Singh, 33, for running the store without obtaining permits.
“The store had not taken the clearances required from the GHMC, fire department, a No Objection Certificate from the neighborhood, previous records of the store, among other documents,” Sultan Bazar Station House Officer (SHO) Srinivasa Chary told TNIE. Around 9 pm on Sunday, a fire broke out at the firecracker store in Hanuman Tekdi at Abids. Even as several customers and staff rushed out of the store, the flames spread to the nearby restaurant. In the accident, a woman who was at Taaza Restaurant, which was near the store, sustained burns on her hand before she was rescued. “The victim, Padmaja, sustained 10% burns due to the impact of the fire. She is in a stable condition now,” the police said. Around seven to eight vehicles also reportedly caught fire.
Hindustan Times confirms that there were no causalities. However, it also states that the incident has raised serious concerns about the safety protocols in place at firecracker shops, especially as the festive season approaches. Hence, the claim that 35 people were killed in the fire accident is False. There were no casualties in the accident.